England’s David Horsey joined Scotland’s Marc Warren at the top of the NH Collection Open leaderboard at the end of the second day in Spain.

A lengthy delay for rain on Thursday meant half the field had to complete their first rounds this morning, although nobody was able to better Jack Doherty’s 69 from the opening day.

But Warren, who had completed a level par 72, then went out and fired 67 to set the clubhouse target at five under par.

He was joined by Horsey, who was four under par for his round with three holes remaining when bad light forced play to stop for the day, with 45 players needing to return at 9am on Saturday to finish their second rounds.

Warren started on the back nine and bogeyed the 12th, but the two-time European Tour winner had three birdies in four holes from the 15th to turn in 34.

Further gains at the third, seventh and ninth saw the 33 year old complete the best score of the week.

"My round didn't finish yesterday so I had to come back and play seven holes this morning and I played ok,” said Warren, who had a double bogey at the 13th but birdied the 15th to complete a 72 on resumption.

“At the start of the second round I struggled a bit with concentration, but once I got it going I played really good - long game was excellent, short game was good. I think I got the best out of my round today.

“Today and yesterday's conditions were pretty similar, obviously without the rain. The wind is going to stay pretty strong and it's going to be tough for the guys playing this afternoon.

“I have been playing well the last few weeks, getting stronger and stronger, so I was really looking forward to this event. It’s like a bonus event for us, coming at the last minute, and I am pleased to see how good the course actually is. I’m looking forward to the next two days.

“I like the course very much. If it was a perfect weather it would still be a good test, but with the strong winds we have here it gets really tough at times.”

Horsey bogeyed the first two holes of his second round, but fought back with six birdies in ten holes from the fourth.

Chile’s Felipe Aguilar sat tied for third with Bradley Dredge and Adrian Otaegui on four under following a round of 69: Welshman Dredge with six holes still to play and Spaniard Otaegui three.

First round leader Jack Doherty added a 74 to his opening 69 to finish one under par.

Local favourite Alejandro Cañizares, who was looking for back-to-back wins after his victory in Morocco, was in danger of missing the cut at six over par with three holes remaining, the Spaniard having taken a quadruple-bogey nine on the par five 11th.